SYSTRA reinforces its cable transport expertise in France

By 2030, a new urban cable car will take shape in the French sky, linking Marseille-Provence Airport to Vitrolles railway station.

The Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis has selected the consortium led by SYSTRA France to provide project management assistance (AMO), with partners TIM Ingénierie, Conseil Ingénierie Acoustique, Biotope, Ateliers Lion Associés, and the law firms Thomé Heitzmann and Rydge Avocats.

The result will be an approximately six-minute journey between Vitrolles railway station and France’s fourth-busiest airport, compared with more than a half-hour on foot or via a road connection (light and heavy goods vehicles) which is often congested. The cable car thus positions itself as a new modal solution for accessing the airport, as well as the Airbus Helicopters industrial site, which is an important activity hub in the region.

We are delighted that SYSTRA France has been selected to assist the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis in the construction of this new urban cable car, which will complement the existing transport network and provide a direct link from rail-to-air transport via the major Airbus Helicopters industrial site, one of the region’s key employment hubs. Following the recent award of the Zel La Montagne cable car project in Saint-Denis, Réunion, and having acted as project manager for the Téléo cable car in Toulouse, this success confirms SYSTRA’s position in cable transport engineering.

Éric de Balincourt, President of SYSTRA France

A multimodal interchange hub around Vitrolles railway station

The cable car will comprise two clusters of three cabins, capable of transporting up to 1,200 passengers per hour. The route will run directly from the regional express train (TER) platform at Vitrolles station to Terminal T1, in front of the airport terminal building, with an intermediary station close to the Airbus Helicopters site and will be fully accessible to people with reduced mobility.

The arrival of the cable car will enable the entire Cap Horizon joint development zone around the airport to become a multimodal interchange hub, with a bus station, a park-and-ride facility, and a bus rapid transit service in addition to the railway station.

Comprehensive support through to commissioning

The assignment entrusted to SYSTRA, spanning 78 months, is overall project management, which includes project coordination, technical coordination, preliminary and regulatory studies, prior consultation, and preparation of tenders, in particular the award of the comprehensive performance contract, interface management, and works and studies supervision up to commissioning.